Marketplace, December 24, 2003
It's holiday gift time. And the biggest gift-givers this holiday season areRepublican members of Congress.
The huge omnibus spending bill that's passed the House and will be voted on inthe Senate when it reconvenes in Washington is loaded with special gifts. Knownin Washington as "earmarks," and known to the rest of us know aspork, these gift items have escaped all notice and accountability. There wereno hearings on them, and no competitive bidding for them. There's no reason forany of them except that members of Congress want to curry favor in order to getreelected.
The pork in this one bill totals $23 billion. That's a new record. Pork-barrelspending has doubled in the last five years.
This year's gift items include $50 million for a 4-and-a-half acre indoor rainforest in Coralville, Iowa, courtesy of Republican Senator Charles Grassley, ofIowa. Then there's $1 million for the Anchorage Museum, courtesy of AlaskaRepublican Senator Ted Sevens. Representative Jim Gibbins, Republican ofNevada, gets a quarter of a million dollars to repair a swimming pool in hishometown of Sparks, Nevada.
And on and on it goes: $200,000 to the University of Hawaii to produce adocumentary on Kalahari Bushmen, $220,000 to the University of Maine torenovate a blueberry research center. Here's a good one: Half a million dollarsto the University of Akron for a program called "Exercises in HardChoices," examining how Congress makes budget decisions.
All this would be bad enough if the federal government was flush with cash. Butlet me remind you: We're deep in the hole. The federal deficit is flowing redink. This year's deficit alone will be over $400 billion. We're fighting a waragainst terrorism that's costing more than anyone ever imagined. Meanwhile,American farmers are getting billions in extra subsidies. There's a giant $1.7trillion tax break, and a huge drug benefit just added to Medicare. And whatabout the tens of millions of baby boomers within eyesight of retirement? Whereare we ever going to get the money to pay their Social Security and Medicare?
Republicans are in control, folks. They used to preach fiscal conservativism.Now they've opened the flood gates. And on top of everything else, they'reflooding the nation with pork.
At least if the President had a line-item veto, the buck would stop at the OvalOffice. He'd have to explain why he had allowed $50 million for the Iowa rainforest, for example. But the Supreme Court, you may remember, rejected theline-item veto because they said it gave the president power that properlybelonged with Congress.
Here's a better idea. When the spending bill comes to his desk, give thepresident power to highlight all this pork -- call it a "porkbudget," if you will -- and then send the pork budget back to Congress andrequire both houses to vote up or down on it. This way, members would have tostand up and be counted. Are they for pork or against it?
The only problem with my idea: Congress would have to enact it.
